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- Top ribbon - includes things like File, Edit, View. This will be where you find some tools
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- Main workspace - Middle of the screen - where you interact with components, and create your design
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- Workspace top ribbon - Top of the workspace, a little floating ribbon with buttons that help you build your circuits. Go here when you want to wire or route things or place text.
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- Properties panel - If you click on a component and click enter, it will usually open the properties panel where you can edit stuff about the component and rename the part and any pins or other things.
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- Properties panel - If you click on a component and click enter, it will usually open the properties panel where you can edit the component and rename the part and any pins or other things.
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## Making a New Project:
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1. Make a new project - File >> New >> Project
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1. Make a new schematic file and a new PCB file inside your project (Right click your project in the left panel)
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<details><summary>Steps to make a schematic document:</summary>
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- Cat
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- Dog
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- Turtle
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<details><summary>Steps to Make Schematic Document:</summary>
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1. To place components - open your schematic file, click on the panels button and select Components.
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1. Click on library
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1. Choose WarnickShareLibrary.SchLib - "J:\groups\warnickshare\AltiumLibraryAndRules\WarnickShareLibrary.SchLib"
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1. Click Open
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1. Now you can select the schematic library in the pull down options.
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1. Search for the components you need and place them by dragging them onto the schematic or by right clicking on their name and clicking the “Place” option. You can then click Tab to open the properties panel and edit the pin names and designators and comment before placing the component.
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1. To change the pin names or designators, click on Pins at the top of the Properties panel, then click on the little pencil at the bottom of the Pins section
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1. Pin Names are what you want to call the pin - like a word describing what that pin is for (Ex. GND for ground). Pin Designators are numbers, so you can number the pins.
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Once you have all your components on the schematic, you can connect them using the place wire button on the top ribbon.
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1. Place Net Labels - Under Place (top ribbon), select Net Label. Click Tab to edit the net name. Click on the wire you want to name to leave the Net Label there. These are super important! They help establish connections between items. You also need them to do things like differential pair routing.
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1. To place a ground net, click the little red triangle in the workspace ribbon. Be sure to label everything properly.
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<details><summary>Steps for PCB Document:</summary>
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1. Once your schematic is finished, switch to the PCB document. In this document, there are three different ways to view the board.
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- If you type the number “1”, you will be able to edit the board shape
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1. If you type 2 - this is where you will be routing and moving components around - the majority of your work will be done here for the PCB. In this setting, the board is black and the components will likely be colorful.
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1. If you type 3, you will be able to see your board in the 3d view.
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Click on Design - Import changes from schematic - this will import the things you did in the schematic document.
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1. You can move the components around to arrange them how you like - push space when you’re dragging it around to make the components rotate.
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1. Connect the components with traces - Interactively Route Connections button (looks like a little line with two holes on the ends) on the ribbon on the top of the screen
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1. When routing, rotate through the corner options by using shift+space. You want your traces to not have any super sharp corners - We typically want to use the 45 degree curves or 90 degree curves - the curves, not the corners. We want wider curves when possible.
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1. When routing, you can hit space to make the route turn the other direction.
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1. You can adjust the corners manually by clicking on the corners and dragging them where you want them.
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1. Importing layer stack - Open the layer stack manager under Design. Then click File > Load Stackup From File.
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Go to the LayerStackFiles folder through the following file path: "J:\groups\warnickshare\AltiumLibraryAndRules\LayerStackFiles" J stands for J Drive. Your J Drive will be called something like your_username (\\fs-caedm)(J:) in your file explorer.
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Select either OSHPark - 2 layers or OSHPark - 4 layers depending on what you’re doing. 4 layers is a good bet. Save this file.
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To resize your board, type the number 1, then click Design at the top, and then Edit Board Shape. Drag the sides of the board to the size you want.
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Polygon manager - Tools > Polygon Pours > Polygon Manager
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To make a ground plane - click on the “New Polygon from…” button. Then choose Board Outline - this will create a plane across your whole board.
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On the right side panel of the polygon pour manager, you can change the net of the new polygon to ground - it should be one of the options under Net.
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Repeat steps 10 and 11 again for as many layers as you have in your board - so in a 4 layer board, you will have four ground layers. For each polygon pour, adjust the Layer on the right, you need one ground plane for each layer of the board (L1, L2, etc.). You can also adjust the name of the polygon on the right side panel.
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Click apply and OK
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The board may be bright red, or look strange. Open up Tools, highlight over Polygon Pours and click on Shelve to hide these polygons. Always remember to repour your polygons by clicking on repour all under Tools >> Polygon Pours. You can also restore your shelved polygons. |